He's Not You
by HartToHart
Summary: Zoe/Wade (and a bit of Zoe/George) after 1x22 Zoe gives George a chance...but Wade's still on her mind. What will she do?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 of a brand new story :) starts of Zoe/George but it will be a Zade fic :) I promise! To be fair...the feelings are largely my own. Cathartic boy moaning fanfic ;) much cheaper than therapy!**

**I'd love to know what you all think of it!**

**Disclaimer: I may own more tubes of toothpaste than I will ever need...but I do not own Hart of Dixie**

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_The old oak floorboards creaked under her feet as she padded back and forth across the room. The ceiling fan whirred gently as it propelled the stuffy air around the room. The pile of clothes on her bed increased with every passing moment. Steam drifted slowly from the bathroom where she'd been showering just minutes before. Outside the bullfrogs croaked and the birds chattered, the gentle breeze swishing across the pond. Wade stood out on his deck, a cold beer in his grip as he accidentally watched her getting ready. He hadn't meant for it to happen like that. He'd been pacing his deck, trying to raise the courage to make an excuse and go over to see her. They'd been getting on better lately, less fighting, more genuine conversation sure with a little flirting thrown in for good measure. He wasn't getting the vibe like he usually did from the ladies, the one that smelled of desperation and a solid foundation for a one night stand. She wasn't obvious about what she wanted and that only made him want her more. Stopping to look across the pond as he saw the shadow fall across her window he watched in awe as she sauntered through from the bathroom…naked. Sure he'd seen her naked before but he'd been so in the moment that he hadn't fully appreciated her. Her perfectly lithe body was tanned and toned and as she stood in front of her closet, Wade was glad that he hadn't installed her new blinds yet. She was smokin'. _

Zoe stood in front of her closet, almost pulling her hair out as she tried to choose an outfit. Something cute…but equally sexy, yet first date appropriate and god was she really thinking about this _that_ much! The humid air felt sticky against her skin and Zoe didn't feel like putting clothes on yet. She laid out her best La Perla underwear on the bed and decided to go from there. Black lace with black lace, it was a no brainer. She grabbed a tight bandage dress that came off in one fell swoop thanks to the giant zipper down the back and grinned, maybe sexy wasn't too far off the mark if she was thinking about how fast her clothes could come off. Remembering Gigi's ultimate adage she paired it only with her classic Jimmy Choo's and a dangling pendant necklace that drew just the right amount of attention to her chest. _"Less is more; the less clothes you have on the more his hands can reach." _She heard her old New York friend's words ring in her ear as she began to slip into the garments.

It's just a first date, just a first date, Zoe told herself over and over again as she waited nervously in the Carriage House for George to show up. Truth be told it had been years since she'd been on a date…and many more since she'd been on one with so much expectation tied to it. It sounded stupid but it felt like so much of her future happiness in Bluebell rested on the success of her and George's little outing. The past few months Zoe had never felt more alone. Losing the fellowship, her boyfriend, her past, her biological father, her pride. It had hit her hard but she wasn't one to admit defeat. She'd tried to pick herself up and dust herself off, striving ahead to get her life back on track and she was succeeding now…bar a few messing little incidents including sleeping with Wade and accidentally getting George Tucker run over she thought she was doing pretty well. Sure at night when she was all alone in the creaky old Carriage House she sometimes felt like screaming for company or when she'd cried herself to sleep over one too many repeats of Casablanca, she missed her old life. She missed feeling so comfortable with someone that you felt like they were an extension of yourself, of course that had sucked all of the fun and excitement out of her relationship but she had been content with it. With the status quo. She wasn't good at being with other people. She was selfish and self centred and it worked for her. Thinking about someone else and their feelings and needs was tiring and a stress she could do without. But…George was so lovely and so funny and charming and god damn cute that she had to give it a shot.

He'd called off his wedding for her, it was the least she could do.

There were footsteps on the porch outside and Zoe felt her stomach clench again. The doorbell rang and she got up slowly. Picking up her keys and her purse Zoe ran her lip gloss over her mouth once more and hurried down the hallway to answer the door. Yanking it open she smiled in what she hoped was a seductive manner. "Hey…" She smiled up at the tall man on her stoop. "Wait…Wade what are you doing here?" Her face dropped and her eyebrows knitted themselves together.

Wade's face fell too but he recovered quickly. "I was jus' seein' if you needed anythin' Zoe? Like that leaky tap or if the possum's givin' you gyp again?" He asked gruffly, rubbing a hand sheepishly through his hair, exposing a stripe of tanned skin above his jeans.

Zoe was mesmirised for a moment, feeling a little light headed as she leaned against the doorframe. "Uhhh…" She tried to pull herself back into the present. "I uh…I'm busy Wade. I'm just going out. I mean I don't have time." She blustered, looking down at the floor beneath their feet.

A car pulled up in the dust outside and Zoe felt her palms begin to sweat. This was not how her date was supposed to start! George scaled the steps two at a time, a big smile on his face until he saw Wade. Wade reacted first. "I was just leavin'." He practically shouted as he turned to flash a grin at Zoe. "If you need anythin' Doc, you know where to find me."

Zoe rolled her eyes slightly as she turned back to George. "Sorry about him. He was just seeing if I needed anything fixed up." She smiled sweetly.

George attempted a smile back at her but his mind was ticking away. Wade was round…again. He certainly did like to keep the old Carriage House in tip top nick these days. Or maybe it was the resultant company from one too many days spent fixing leaky taps and squeaky chair, jammed windows and faulty fuse boxes. They'd grown up together, if anybody knew Wade Kinsella it was George. And when Wade Kinsella wanted a woman, he would damn well get her whether it was at the death of him or not. Suppressing his jealousy George extended a hand towards Zoe which he place in the small of her back propelling her forwards slightly. "I thought we could go see that Woody Allen film over in Mobile and then go check out that new bistro. I heard they got great salmon." He said as he opened her door for her, going round to the driver's side.

Zoe nodded and felt her heart flutter slightly. He knew her so well…or was that just his idea of a good time? "It sounds perfect." She murmured as she looked across at him. He was so…familiar. She buckled her seat belt and watched as he steered the car from the lot, catching one last glimpse of Wade, leaning over his porch with a fresh beer in his hand, watching her go. "So what's it like growing up in Bluebell?" Zoe broke the silence between them, her fingers fumbling slightly in her lap as she tried not to focus on his hand which was now resting upon her knee as he drove.

She smiled and nodded in all of the right places as he regaled her with tales of his idyllic childhood, of growing up with best friends who he played all day down at Babcock Pond with, attending the same schools that his parents had, formals and dances, hayrides and football games. It all sounded so perfect to Zoe who had grown up in a big dirty city where you couldn't pick your neighbours out of a line up and her idea of a back yard was Central Park. She'd been drinking and dancing in clubs from the age of fourteen and thanks to her early development had never once been challenged on it. Following in her 'father's' footsteps can come all too easily for her in their life of privilege as she replaced Us Weekly with Medicine Today and nights out on the tiles for ones spent cramming for exams.

"That must have been nice." Zoe murmured as she stared absent mindedly from the window. "I only know New York. I couldn't tell you where to get flowers in Bluebell but I can recite you forwards and back the names of the subway stops on the way to my old apartment."

The next hour or so as they drove to Mobile was punctuated by their shared stories of New York. Crazy crossovers in their lives that had meant they had surely brushed by each other before, seen the other at a table across a restaurant, crossed paths. Shaking their heads in unison they both chuckled at the thought. All through the movie Zoe's mind was racing. He was perfect. George was perfect. So why did she feel nothing when he grabbed her hand, placed his arm around her, brushed against her.

She was used to feeling sparks, feeling something. Alarm bells went off in her head as he turned to her over the tub of popcorn, his lips capturing hers in a sweet and off guard kiss. He held her chin in his hand and tilted his face to the side, continuing to move against her as she gave in and kissed him back. Pulling back she exhaled slowly, letting him link his fingers through hers as he rested their intertwined hands on his lap. Nothing. She felt nothing.

She had felt this before. The familiar panic rising in her as she realised that he was just like her ex boyfriend. Just like Zach with his perfectly styled brown hair, big expressive eyes, chiselled features and freshly pressed shirts. He was sweet and they had loads in common, he made her laugh and told her she was pretty. He was perfect on paper and in person. He just wasn't rip your clothes off sexy and made her feel warm and fuzzy not wild and raw.

Her stomach flipped as she realised she was thinking of Wade as his nails had scraped hungrily at her skin, pushing down her bra strap as he pressed his lips to the exposed skin of her neck. His hands had cupped her ass as he'd carried her through into the bedroom, pressing himself tight against her as she felt his need, his want. He'd made her feel on fire, like she would burst into flames if he left her alone. They had been explosive and she'd had the best sex of her life with him.

She thought back to Zach and the handful of times a week where they'd make familiar boring love to one another, and the other times where they would just cuddle instead both too tired and frustrated to bother to become more intimate. She was in her twenties and she had been shunning sex for sleep. Gigi had despaired of her, writing her off like their friends who were married and resigned to a life of stale missionary sex. But with Wade…it had been so so different. Zoe flushed, glad for the darkness of the theatre as she accidentally squeezed George's hand leading him to swoop in for another kiss.

This one went deeper as Zoe willed herself to feel something, anything. His tongue ran along her bottom lip and she let him. Why was she letting him? She felt like a teenager again, nervous about taking things too far, kissing feeling awkward and her arms gangly. She forced the thoughts from her head and tried to put herself into the kiss. George is not Zach, she thought to herself. He's also not Wade…her conscience chided her as her hands worked into his hair.

He's not Wade…


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks so much to all the reviewers :) I've found it kinda hard to write this chapter but your reviews spurred me on! **

**I'm not 100% sure where this story is headed...but I will promise you that it will be Zade :D I need to invent an alternate reality where they are still together!**

**Please read and review **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hart of Dixie. If I did then my heart would not be broken.**

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Zoe lay on her back, a thin sheet pulled up over her naked chest as she stared at the ceiling. Her eyes were wide and staring she traced the swirls in the plaster trying to occupy her mind with something, anything as she lay in the semi darkness. The sun must be coming up but being the middle of summer, it had barely gone down a few hours before. Turning her head to the side she saw the luminous face of the alarm clock. 3.27am. Ouch.

Her cheek brushed the mattress as she continued to watch the minutes slip by. The body beside her was warm and inviting, his arm lying outstretched just asking for her to snuggle into him. This unconscious invite was not lost on her. His chest rose and fell slowly, a slight whistle as he exhaled that Zoe found oddly comforting. He was…so familiar. In most contexts she would find this attractive, even alluring but in bed…feeling familiar was akin to feeling creeped out. When he kissed her it felt like high school and not in a good way. Not in the making out in the back seat of his Mom's jeep because you literally couldn't keep your hands off each other. More in the weird and unfortunate bracket like when you accidentally made out with a boy you've known since kindergarten who felt more like a brother than a boyfriend.

She really hadn't meant to sleep with him. It was stupid and while she didn't wholly regret it, she wondered if she might in the morning. He had been sweet and gentle and nice. None of those words had ever been used positively to describe sex. There was music on in the background, they had kissed for what felt like an hour before he took the glass of wine from her hand and laid it on the bedside table, pushing her back against the pillows. He had carefully unzipped her dress, worked the catch smoothly on her bra, let her remove her own panties. Honestly, she had read about sex like this in all those Nicholas Spark's type books that AnnaBeth had insisted on lending her. Sex with good kind men who cared about you and wanted to make you their wife and have like ten babies with you. Zoe used to want that too. Zach had been boring and predictable and stable. George was like Zach 2.0. He was so un-Wade.

God, where did that thought come from?

He asked her if sleeping with him was really what she wanted. Was she sure? Was it ok? She had been so frustrated and wound up that she'd said yes. She'd confused her confusion for sexual frustration. Well maybe she was a little out of sorts, after such a dry spell this new mini dry spell was kinda doing her nut in. George had been so…gentlemanly. He continued to kiss her, his hands only straying as far as her hair and round her waist. Clearly kissing was as heated as his foreplay got. She didn't have to remind him to wear a condom. He wasn't loud in bed but made all the right noises. He didn't last long, but then she didn't really care all that much. He seemed satisfied. She faked it. He told her she was beautiful. He fell asleep.

So Zoe lay beside him unsure, unsatisfied, unhappy as he slept. They hadn't even discussed if they were in a relationship so was she obligated to spend the night, knowing that for all the wrong reasons there was no way she was going to get any sleep? As the sunlight crept across the room Zoe knew that she couldn't face him in the cold light of day. It was too soon. She knew he'd be upset to wake up without her there but she just couldn't face it. Sliding quietly from between the sheets she dressed and padded softly from the room, looking back at the door to see him sigh and roll over, pulling a pillow towards him as he slept and mumbling softly.

She was doing him a favour, Zoe thought to herself as she let herself out the front door. Who wanted to wake up next to her?

Her mind wandered back to that fateful night when she and Wade had hooked up. She'd been mad and sad, a bad combination if ever she knew one. George and Lemon were about to get married, Lavon had banished her from Bluebell and Wade was there. He was loud and obnoxious, confusing and infuriating and so god damn sexy she just wanted to tear his clothes off. She had struggled for hours not to launch herself at him as he stood, rain dripping from his hair, his shirt sticking to him. When they had finally kissed she felt like her whole body was connected to an electric current. When he slid his hands up her dress she never wanted him to stop. When he called out her name she never wanted to hear another sound.

She fully expected to wake up to an empty bed that morning. Instead she woke with his arm around her waist, his half-naked body still pressed against hers and his breath gently tickling her cheek. Contrary to popular belief Wade Kinsella was a cuddler. After George had showed up Zoe hadn't felt much like making love again and had made her excuses to Wade, expecting him to up and leave. But he'd been okay with it. He'd pulled her back into bed and kissed her gently until she snuggled up in his arms and fell asleep. He had held her and she had let him. So who wanted to wake up next to her?

Wade Kinsella, that's who.

She crept from the house, hearing the lock click behind her as she tiptoed down the porch steps. She felt guilty already. George was so sweet, it was such a guy thing to do as well, sneaking out in the middle of the night to avoid a confrontation or awkward conversation. It was something she'd learned from the best. She couldn't count on both hands and feet the number of times her father had taken off for a job shortly after a massive bust up with her mother. He really knew how to choose his moments too. Zoe clicked her tongue as she realised that her car was at home as George had driven them to the restaurant.

Starting on the long walk home Zoe cursed herself for wearing Jimmy Choo's. They really were not the shoe of choice for a walk of shame. Especially not one up a dirt track with no street lamps in heart of Dixie. If she could rewind the last five hours of her life then she would.

10.30pm they had pulled up in front of George's house. His hand was resting on her knee in a gesture she found a little too familiar for her liking. She turned to look at him, after all she had expected him to take her home. "I thought you might want to come in for coffee." He said, no hint of suggestion in his voice. In that moment Zoe really did expect him to invite her inside and make her a nice froth cappuccino. So she said yes. For the record he had made her coffee and it had been perfect in every way. A fellow New Yorker (or honorary one) he appreciated good coffee just as much as she – he even had those little biscotti to go with it. It was what had happened after the coffee that was still a little fuzzy in her mind. It had all happened so fast.

She had got up to leave, his hand had been on her wrist. It had been all too innocent. He stood up beside her, taking her tiny hands in his as he kissed her softly. "I like you Zoe Hart." He said seriously as he took her face in his hands. "I really like you."

His soft accent and southern charm had melted over her like a covering of the smoothest chocolate and she had felt warmed and comforted by it. She wasn't getting any younger, she knew settling down was on the horizon. George had always been the kind of man she had sought. Her mother would love him.

Kissing him back with more ferocity than she had intended she let him pull her back down onto the sofa. She had sat on his lap as they kissed, lips bumping, hands exploring in a heated exchange that neither had really expected of the night. "Do you want to?" George asked hesitantly.

"Bedroom?" Zoe breathed as she kissed his neck. She didn't know why but she expected him to lift her up, to carry her romantically up the stairs. He seemed like that kinda guy. Hell…even Wade had been that kind of guy, although she had a feeling that it was more urgency and sexual desire that had caused him to lift her up and wrap her slender legs around his hips, walking them backwards towards her bed as he kissed her senseless. Instead George pulled her gently to her feet and took her by the hand, leading her up the stairs to his bedroom. It felt so…formal.

Even with Zach when sex hadn't exactly been spontaneous they had never felt so forced. Usually one of them had rolled over and initiated it, usually it had been her. George was considered and measured and in complete control of his hormones. He was the product of a fifteen year relationship to the same girl and she couldn't help but shudder as she realised that George's only sexual experiences, knowledge and preferences were exactly the same as Lemon Breeland's. That thought alone was enough to make Zoe want to gag.

The spooky night-time noises were starting to get to her as she turned into the plantation track. A twig snapped under her feet and she shivered, an owl hooted and she heard a slithering in the nearby bushes. "It's just Burt. It's just Burt." She repeated to herself over and over, not really sure how it only being an alligator waiting to get her was any better than a masked man or a toothless hobo but she kept up her mantra anyway. Her heels sunk into the mud and she mentally berated herself for wearing such nice heels on a stupid first date. "Why am I so stupid?" She thumped the heel of her hand off her forehead.

Tumbling up the steps of her porch she slipped her shoes off, tossing them under the porch swing and fumbling through her pockets for her keys. She cursed loudly as she came up empty handed, trying in vain to force the lock on the door. Sliding down the doorframe, head in hands the inevitable tears began to flow. Her life was such a mess. Holding it together for so long had finally taken its toll. There was only so much a person could take. Her professional rejection in New York, the truth about her dad, grieving for a father she'd never had the chance to know, the distance from family and friends and 'normal'. It was all an adjustment and one that she felt largely she had taken in her stride. It was the moments in between that she had struggled with. When the lights were off and she was home alone she couldn't help but drown in her despair.

Her picture of life had shifted so drastically Zoe was certain she wasn't just on a whole new canvas but in entirely different gallery. There was nothing about her new life that even remotely resembled the old one. It wasn't a complete disaster. Her New York life had been far from perfect too…but at least she could convince herself back then that it was a life that she wanted. Indecision had never been her forte, she liked clean and clear precise choices. To-ing and fro-ing were not for her.

Crawling limply towards the porch swing Zoe nestled into its comforting embrace and sighed deeply. She loved working as a GP. It had taken twenty-odd years to discover that she, Zoe Hart was a people person. She seemed to possess an uncanny knack for getting to the real root of people's problems, a quality that she and Harley shared she was told. She loved the stories she was told, the gratitude of people as she nursed them back to health, the relief as she allied their fears. It suited her. She was growing to love Bluebell with its wacky traditions, weird holidays and other worldly towns people. Heck she was even starting to appreciate sweet tea and fried chicken.

It was her romantic life that had been a disaster. Through all the highs there had been no end to her misery in her love life. Chasing a married man was always going to end in heartbreak. She couldn't remember how many times she had been warned of it, but she had continued on. She had hurt Lemon, George, Wade and herself in the process but pig headed as usual she hadn't noticed until it was too late. Realisation dawned on her as she thought back to a time where she could say that she had been really genuinely happy. Blissfully ignorantly happy.

Wade's hands had traced patterns across her bare skin, his lips grazed her neck as he moved back up her body. Her body arched involuntarily into his and they were connected. The passion burned in his eyes which were glassy and unfocussed as he tenderly brushed her hair back off her face. In that moment, she had felt boundless.


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